Green goes glamorous / Innovators take environmentally sound materials out of the realm of hippiedom

Susan Kuchinskas, Special to The Chronicle

Published 7:00 am, Saturday, March 20, 2004

Bruce Mast has decorated his kitchen using high-end recycled materials. Mast feels the surface of his countertop, which is made of shards of glass from traffic light lenses and wine glasses set in concrete. The countertop is then polished and sealed. It's from Counter Productions in Berkeley.
Chronicle photo by Kim Komenich in Oakland
Photo: Kim Komenich

Bruce Mast has decorated his kitchen using high-end recycled...

Bruce Mast has decorated his kitchen using high-end recycled materials. This is a detail of some of the glass tiles on the wall abov Mast's countertop.
Chronicle photo by Kim Komenich in Oakland
Photo: Kim Komenich

Bruce Mast has decorated his kitchen using high-end recycled materials. This is a detail of the quarter-sawn white oak Mast used for his cupboards. The wood is treated with beeswax and linseed oil.
Chronicle photo by Kim Komenich in Oakland
Photo: Kim Komenich

Bruce Mast has decorated his kitchen using high-end recycled...

Bruce Mast has decorated his kitchen using high-end recycled materials. This is a detail of Mast's countertop, manufactured by Counter Productions of Berkeley. It is made of shards of glass from traffic light lenses and wine glasses set in concrete that are polished and sealed.
Chronicle photo by Kim Komenich in Oakland
Photo: Kim Komenich

Bruce Mast has decorated his kitchen using high-end recycled...

John stands in a doorway in his home. the walls are made with volcanic rock,it absorbs smells. (ck for more info from him about this wall and rock)
Environmentally correct building at John Schurtz's home. 3/8/04 in Novato.
PENNI GLADSTONE / The Chronicle
Photo: PENNI GLADSTONE

John stands in a doorway in his home. the walls are made with...

In the backyard John has planted drought tolerant plants. You can see the metal roof and solar panels.
Environmentally correct building at John Schurtz's home. 3/8/04 in Novato.
PENNI GLADSTONE / The Chronicle
Photo: PENNI GLADSTONE

In the backyard John has planted drought tolerant plants. You can...

this insulation in the attic is made up of recycled denim jeans. and the board that is white in the middle is recycled wood. Environmentally correct building at John Schurtz's home. 3/8/04 in Novato.
PENNI GLADSTONE / The Chronicle
Photo: PENNI GLADSTONE

Don McPherson loves glass, and he hates to see it wasted. A doctor of glass science, founder of a scientific glass company in Berkeley and a creator of blown-art glass, McPherson wanted to use his technical knowledge to benefit society. In 1996, he began looking for a way to make use of the 500 tons of glass that get dumped in the Bay Area each month.

The result is a product called Vetrazzo, formed from colored concrete and bits of colored glass. The permutations are infinite. The integrally colored concrete shows through the glass, subtly changing its color, while the sheen of the glass particles makes the polished surface sparkle.

Brown beer bottle in an olive ground produces an earthy material, while clear tempered glass in charcoal concrete takes on a mirror finish. Ruby red and yellow glass from traffic lights embedded in brown glow like a Gravenstein apple orchard in fall.

McPherson's spin-off company, Counter Production, custom casts countertops, sinks and fireplace mantels from Vetrazzo, which is as hard as granite, more beautiful than terrazzo and 80 to 90 percent recycled material. Although Counter Production is still a boutique company, it keeps between 50 and 100 tons of glass out of the landfill each year and helps recyclers stay in business.

McPherson is part of a wave of artist-inventors coming up with next- generation green products that combine the social conscience of Gandhi and the style sense of Reese Witherspoon.

Thanks to these innovators, and to traditional manufacturers converted to the green religion, no longer do we have to sacrifice looking good for being good in our design projects. Indeed, green can be positively glamorous.

"People (who want green materials) no longer have to jump through hoops or deal with obstacles to getting products," says Christi Graham, chief executive of Healthy Home Designs in Sausalito. "I've always believed that we don't have to sacrifice beauty and variety and durability. There's so much more interesting stuff coming out. It's quite amazing to see the shift."

Graham founded the Green Resource Center in Berkeley, a sort of petting zoo of environmentally responsible materials, and organizes an annual green materials showcase in San Francisco.

Round and round

Take ShetkaStone. It has the variable coloration of natural stone and an intriguing surface, can be made in almost any color without the use of dye or pigment, and can be recycled over and over again. The product, which can be cast into slabs for doors, counters or decorative objects like soap dishes, was invented by Stanley Shetka, a professor of art and design at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota.

He says it came out of the same creative process as writing or mixing paint. He asked himself why we use paper once, then throw it away, so that it makes up about 40 percent of all solid waste.

Instead, his process transforms any kind of paper or fiber. He can match colors by sorting the paper used in the mix, and includes other elements such as plants and cloth. An architectural firm shipped him every bit of paper it used, from blueprints to magazines to soap boxes. In return, it got gorgeous tabletops that serve as a constant reminder that reuse can be beautiful.

Green grows up

While innovative products like these are adding pizzazz to the market, early-stage green products are growing up -- and growing nicer. For example, alternative decking made from wood byproducts has been available for years. Trex, Nexwood and Evergrain offer extreme durability. But the boards came in limited sizes, and some people found the appearance too uniform; it just didn't look like wood.

Now, says Tim Yarish, senior project manager for Muratore Corp., a building contractor in San Francisco, the colors are more interesting and more stable, while texturing adds realism. (Of course, not everyone wants realism. Yarish says alternative decking looks unapologetically great when it plays off other modern materials like concrete.)

"All evidence is that (composite decking) doesn't rot, it doesn't expand or decay," Yarish says. And he means never, ever. "You can put it anywhere," he says. "It doesn't matter how much sunlight it gets. It's easy to handle, doesn't split, and you can use 100 percent of the material."

When you use composite decking, you save money on installation and maintenance while saving what's left of our redwoods. You also keep a whole lot of plastic bottles out of the landfill because it's recycled plastic that holds the wood particles together.

Manufacturers go green

It's not only entrepreneurial companies that are coming up with cool new products that are as easy on the eye as on the environment. "Manufacturers are rising to the occasion," says interior designer Victoria Schomer. "There's a critical mass now of consumers, designers and specifiers who are aware of environmental issues -- and manufacturers are paying attention."

Schomer, principal of Interior Concerns in San Rafael, has focused on green design for more than a decade. Market forces are also pushing the issue, Schomer says. For example, many municipalities have begun to require low- emission carpeting and fabrics in their projects. In response, almost all major manufacturers of products that end up in commercial buildings are having them tested for emissions levels.

The booming market has created opportunity for mid-size retailers like Eco-Friendly Flooring, a Madison, Wis., outfit that sells more than 70 products.

Owner Melissa Clements began by offering bamboo; she's extended her line to include linoleum, cork and recycled glass tile.

Clements works with a network of artists to create luminous tiles that are 100 percent recycled glass in a sparkling range of colors from peach to violet to graphite. The line includes cast and textured shapes, and Clements' artisans will create custom molds.

It seems that we've finally begun that virtuous circle, in which consumers' green concerns inspire product designers and manufacturers to create still nicer stuff, which then inspires us to get even greener. Pretty cool -- for us and for the environment.

Green Resource Center is a Berkeley showcase of eco-correct construction materials including insulation, paving, wood, decking, paint, wallpaper and countertops. Open to the public Monday through Friday by appointment; (510) 845-0472; www.greenresourcecenter.org.

Healthy Home Designs is a Sausalito purveyor of plans for homes in a wide variety of styles that incorporate healthy design and energy efficiency. (888) 388-5735; www.healthyhomedesigns.com.